Prophecy Approved Companion

Book Three Chapter Seventy Five: Branching Castle Hallway

The Chosen One threw back his head as he laughed. “You’re even learning how to save scum!” he said proudly. “Sure, let’s go.”

He swiped his hand through the Save Point, then gestured for her to exit through the Time Temple door.

Qube, still unsure of what, exactly, her plan was, grasped the handle and pushed the heavy door. It slowly creaked open, in a manner that seemed precisely designed to create the maximum amount of creakage and screeching.

Knowing that there was almost no chance of anyone on the other side not having heard the racket, Qube poked her head out.

The Time Temple door opened onto —

She was pulled into a huge hall with high arches overhead and hundreds of doorways lining the walls —

Qube swayed, struggling to cope with the image that had just flashed before her. She shook herself, struggling to stay present.

“Hey,” the Chosen One’s hand was on her shoulder, steadying her. “Are you alright?”

He tried to pull her away from the doorway, but she resisted.

“I’m fine,” she said, stepping out into the hallway. “It’s just… familiar.”

She’d been in this hallway once before, in her imagination. When she’d attempted to rest in the Light Temple, she’d had a strange dream where she’d been drawn into a castle made of numbers. It’d been an odd dream, probably because she hadn’t been in a bed, and ended with the Evil Emperor’s numbers trying to eat her. Or something like that, she couldn’t exactly remember the details.

She eyed the grand staircase at the end of the hallway, and the grandiose doorway at the top.

It had been a dream, right? Or maybe it had been a vision.

Her blood ran cold as she remembered more of that long ago nap. There’d been something next to the Evil Emperor’s throne. A space that sought to consume her. A place where she belonged.

“How’s it familiar?” The Chosen One stepped out of the room and took his place by her side.

“I… had a vision, I think, of it once.”

“A vision?” the Chosen One replied incredulously.

“It’s not unheard of,” Sencha Bard said, moving to Qube’s other side. “Many stories tell of potent visions visiting those on a quest given to them by the gods.”

“Oh, so, like, it’s from a vision you got before you left the village?” The Chosen One seemed relieved by this idea.

“I got it in the Light Temple,” Qube corrected.

“My darling! You had a prophetic vision with us right there and never let us know?” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar asked, aghast.

“Well, I thought it was just a dream,” Qube said guiltily. “I didn’t know it was prophecy related.”

“You had it in the Light Temple,” the Chosen One echoed her, stunned. Qube nodded. She was just as taken aback to discover that she’d secretly been having visions. Or maybe he was surprised that she’d slept in the Light Temple? Come to think of it, she’d never really told him about that particular dream. They’d been too busy with Scissors and the pharaoh.

“Are you sure it was in the Light Temple?” he pressed.

“Of course I’m sure!” Qube said, mildly offended at his continued disbelief. Honestly, he was taking the whole “shock at her secretly getting prophetic visions while having naps outside of bed” a little bit too hard. Was it so unbelievable that she would be capable of something that, from what Sencha Bard was saying, heaps of people had done before?

But the Hero seemed to focus in on himself. “Maybe it’s left over content that I didn’t clear in the village?” he muttered. “I suppose I didn’t sleep there. But… no, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Chosen One, I’m assuming this involves me,” Qube said, politely engaging the Hero’s attention again. “Is there something wrong with me having visions of the Evil Emperor’s hallway?”

“What else happened in the dream?” he asked, snapping his attention onto her.

Ah. She hadn’t missed that look. That scalpel-like interest, that sought answers rather than understanding. In a blink, however, the expression was gone, and he was back to being the Chosen One.

“I mean, if you want to tell me,” he said, looking mildly ashamed at his sudden intensity. “I’m just… I don’t know why you would get a vision of his hallway, y’know? Why would the Devs do that? That seems so weird, and out of place.”

“I agree,” Definitely Bad Guy chimed in. “It is most unusual. Did it contain any useful information? Perhaps the patterns of the guards’ patrols? I can only imagine that he must have changed them since I left.”

Qube scrunched up her forehead in an attempt to remember. The Light Temple had been weeks, maybe even months, ago.

“Well, it was like when I go to the space in-between, where I can affect things, like the griffin-lion-bird, or the pharaoh,” she said. “It’s hard to describe, but everything seemed to be made up of lines, and numbers, and equations.”

The Chosen One stared at her.

“Oh,” was all he said. “I… see.”

“Is that all right?” Qube asked, suddenly worried. She’d never really spoken to the Chosen One about what the experience of being in that in-between space was like. Every time she’d come out of it, something dramatic was always happening, and it had just gotten swept up in solving whatever particular crisis was occurring.

“Yes, that’s fine,” he said stiffly. It clearly wasn’t fine. Qube was mortified.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, struggling to contain herself. “Is it bad that there were numbers?” She didn’t know how it could be bad that there were numbers in her vision, or in the in-between, but from the way he was reacting it clearly wasn’t what he’d expected. The Chosen One relaxed slightly.

“No,” he said, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. “No, you’re fine. I just should have asked you sooner. I’m mad at myself, that’s all.”

“Sure,” she said, not entirely believing him. She, who had just stared down the kingdom’s guardians, was shaking like a leaf at the idea that the Chosen One was mad at her for something that wasn’t her fault.

“It’s just a little more literal than I was expecting,” the Chosen One said by way of explanation. “But you’re fine. It’s good. Just unexpected. So what was in it, besides the hallway?”

“Um,” Qube, still shaken by her fear that she’d done something wrong, stammered out: “Well, there was this staircase and the door and the Evil Emperor and I was going next to him but it was scary and then I woke up. That’s all. Shall we go to the dungeon now?”

“I—okay?” The Chosen One looked taken aback by her sudden speeding through her explanation. Faint lines appeared on his brow. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” he said, much gentler than before.

“Well that’s everything about the dream!” Qube said. “It wasn’t very comfortable. It felt like I was going to get eaten by the numbers, or something.”

“Perhaps it was a warning?” Sencha Bard said slowly. Qube tilted her head at him inquiringly. “You say the numbers were trying to eat you. Well, if your ability to affect our reality involves you manipulating numbers, perhaps someone was trying to warn you that attempting to do so in the presence of the Evil Emperor would result in you being erased.”

The Chosen One pointedly cleared his throat.

“I don’t know why she got this vision, but it definitely wasn’t that,” he said sternly. “It’s probably some other thing that I don’t understand, but I promise you, the Devs wouldn’t be sending her mystical dream messages. You’ve met them. They’re not exactly subtle.”

Coming from the legendarily unsubtle Chosen One, the party struggled to keep straight faces.

“Y-you’re right,” Qube said, with barely a quiver to betray how close she was to bursting out laughing. “They do lack a certain diplomatic smoothness.”

“Exactly!” the Chosen One agreed, pleased. “There’s no way they’d be able to pull something this sneaky off.”

“You may have a point, Chosen One,” Sencha Bard said, his lips firmly pressed together. “They certainly lack your sneakiness. They wouldn’t— wouldn’t be able to sneak it past you.”

“Is everyone from the Devs’ realm incapable of subtly?” Definitely Bad Guy asked with devastating frankness. “No one we’ve met from that realm has displayed much in the way of social subterfuge. Or is it merely because they see no need when dealing with us?”

“What? Yeah we can be subtle. Take me for example.”

“Darling, you’re as subtle as a brick,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar said affectionately. The Hero spluttered.

“I am so subtle!” he declared loudly.

“Don’t worry, Chosen One, we all know you have far too much on your plate, what with saving the world and all, to worry about diplomacy, or veiled messages,” Qube earnestly reassured him.

“I can be diplomatic!” the Hero said.

“Then why haven’t you tried it?” Sencha Bard instantly retorted.

The Hero’s indignation held for a second, before melting away as he laughed. “All right, all right,” he said, grinning. “It might not be my strong suit here. But my point stands. This ain’t the Devs. Some wires probably got crossed or something.”

“Ah,” Qube said. “What should I do about it, then?”

“I dunno,” the Hero said with a shrug. “I can ask, but unfortunately due to real—uh, realm stuff, it’s been really hard to get a chance to actually talk to them. And they’re super paranoid about putting anything in writing cuz of, uh, oversight and such.”

“Oh, like Sir Ian?” Qube asked.

“Yeah. He’s been trying to keep it as under wraps as he can, but some people have started sniffing around, and it’s making the team nervous.”

At the news that there was something that made the Devs nervous, the party instantly became visibly nervous. The Chosen One winced.

“Ah, [snacks], sorry, I shouldn’t be talking to you guys about this,” he said. “For, like, multiple reasons. The point is, we might not get an answer in time, so let’s just go full steam ahead. In fact, I dunno if we’re gonna be able to explore much of the castle. I don’t want to get locked out for another week or two cuz I overstayed.”

Qube quickly recalculated her plan.

“In that case, I think we should prioritise the dungeon,” she said. “It has the best chance at helping us the most.”

Both Sencha Bard and Sexy Screamy Spider Briar looked wistful at her announcement.

“Alas, no fair maidens in need of rescuing,” the Bard said.

“And no fair knights in need of turning to the side of Good,” the Hunter commiserated.

Squiggles wrapped her tentacles around both of them, and squeezed. Hard.

“Lady Squiggles! Pray do not be so forceful!” Sencha Bard said.

“Too rough, my baby,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar chastised the sharktopus.

Squiggles hissed.

“Oh, my jealous little pet, don’t worry! No knight could ever lure me away from your adorableness!” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar cooed as she spoke, picking up the grumpy mascot.

“Nor any maiden able to keep me from your side,” Sencha Bard declared, taking one of Squiggles’s flailing tentacles and kissing the back of it.josei

Watching the trio, Qube was struck with a sudden feeling of dread. When they ascended, were they all going to be allowed to stay together? Or would the Devs try to separate them? The Chosen One had said he wouldn’t allow the Devs to put them to work, but he hadn’t said anything about forcing them to let the party stay together.

Even without the ascension, it would have been natural that the party wouldn’t stay together forever. Definitely Bad Guy had his tower, and all his research to do, Sexy Screamy Spider Briar had to decide if she would rule the Forbidden Forest or introduce her new form of rulership to the masses, and Sencha Bard… well, he’d probably want to tour around, performing.

Squiggles would want to go visit Otto to catch up, and the Chosen One…

He had a life in the Devs’ realm. One that made him tired, and kept him busy. What would happen after they saved the world? It wasn’t the first time she’d thought about this, but now, so close to the end, she felt real fear steal into her heart.

The future stretched before her, dark and unknown.

“We should hurry to the dungeon,” she said brightly, banishing the creeping dread to the depths of her mind. “I can’t wait to see the Royals again!”